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- CA3: Ptf was arrested on an apparent but recalled warrant, then officers confirmed it and let him go; the arrest was reasonable
- N.D.Ohio: Failure to serve state SW within state mandated time not 4A violation
- NY1: Gunshot through floor from apartment above was exigency
- Reason: Most Civil Forfeiture Victims Never See the Inside of a Courtroom
- CA8: Admission of anonymous tip that led to stop violated Confrontation Clause
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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2015-17) (then discontinued)
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by John Wesley Hall
Criminal Defense Lawyer and
Search and seizure law consultant
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: forhall @ aol.com
Search and Seizure (6th ed. 2025)
www.johnwesleyhall.com -
© 2003-26,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 600,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 50,000 posts since 2003 (29,000 on WordPress as of 12/31/25) -
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Fourth Amendment cases, citations, and links -
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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
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Stringrays (ACLU No. Cal.) (pdf)
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Congressional Research Service:
--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
--Overview of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
--Outline of Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (2012)
--Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (2012)
--Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions (2012)
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Section 1983 Blog -
"If it was easy, everybody would be doing it. It isn't, and they don't."
—Me -
"Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well."
–Josh Billings (pseudonym of Henry Wheeler Shaw), Josh Billings on Ice, and Other Things (1868) (erroneously attributed to Robert Louis Stevenson, among others) -
“I am still learning.”
—Domenico Giuntalodi (but misattributed to Michelangelo Buonarroti (common phrase throughout 1500's)). -
"Love work; hate mastery over others; and avoid intimacy with the government."
—Shemaya, in the Thalmud -
"It is a pleasant world we live in, sir, a very pleasant world. There are bad people in it, Mr. Richard, but if there were no bad people, there would be no good lawyers."
—Charles Dickens, “The Old Curiosity Shop ... With a Frontispiece. From a Painting by Geo. Cattermole, Etc.” 255 (1848) -
"A system of law that not only makes certain conduct criminal, but also lays down rules for the conduct of the authorities, often becomes complex in its application to individual cases, and will from time to time produce imperfect results, especially if one's attention is confined to the particular case at bar. Some criminals do go free because of the necessity of keeping government and its servants in their place. That is one of the costs of having and enforcing a Bill of Rights. This country is built on the assumption that the cost is worth paying, and that in the long run we are all both freer and safer if the Constitution is strictly enforced."
—Williams v. Nix, 700 F. 2d 1164, 1173 (8th Cir. 1983) (Richard Sheppard Arnold, J.), rev'd Nix v. Williams, 467 US. 431 (1984). -
"The criminal goes free, if he must, but it is the law that sets him free. Nothing can destroy a government more quickly than its failure to observe its own laws, or worse, its disregard of the charter of its own existence."
—Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643, 659 (1961). -
"Any costs the exclusionary rule are costs imposed directly by the Fourth Amendment."
—Yale Kamisar, 86 Mich.L.Rev. 1, 36 n. 151 (1987). -
"There have been powerful hydraulic pressures throughout our history that bear heavily on the Court to water down constitutional guarantees and give the police the upper hand. That hydraulic pressure has probably never been greater than it is today."
— Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 39 (1968) (Douglas, J., dissenting). -
"The great end, for which men entered into society, was to secure their property."
—Entick v. Carrington, 19 How.St.Tr. 1029, 1066, 95 Eng. Rep. 807 (C.P. 1765) -
"It is a fair summary of history to say that the safeguards of liberty have frequently been forged in controversies involving not very nice people. And so, while we are concerned here with a shabby defrauder, we must deal with his case in the context of what are really the great themes expressed by the Fourth Amendment."
—United States v. Rabinowitz, 339 U.S. 56, 69 (1950) (Frankfurter, J., dissenting) -
"The course of true law pertaining to searches and seizures, as enunciated here, has not–to put it mildly–run smooth."
—Chapman v. United States, 365 U.S. 610, 618 (1961) (Frankfurter, J., concurring). -
"A search is a search, even if it happens to disclose nothing but the bottom of a turntable."
—Arizona v. Hicks, 480 U.S. 321, 325 (1987) -
"For the Fourth Amendment protects people, not places. What a person knowingly exposes to the public, even in his own home or office, is not a subject of Fourth Amendment protection. ... But what he seeks to preserve as private, even in an area accessible to the public, may be constitutionally protected."
—Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 351 (1967) -
“Experience should teach us to be most on guard to protect liberty when the Government’s purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded
rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.”
—United States v. Olmstead, 277 U.S. 438, 479 (1925) (Brandeis, J., dissenting)
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“Liberty—the freedom from unwarranted intrusion by government—is as easily lost through insistent nibbles by government officials who seek to do their jobs too well as by those whose purpose it is to oppress; the piranha can be as deadly as the shark.”
—United States v. $124,570, 873 F.2d 1240, 1246 (9th Cir. 1989) -
"You can't always get what you want / But if you try sometimes / You just might find / You get what you need."
—Mick Jagger & Keith Richards, Let it Bleed (album, 1969) -
"In Germany, they first came for the communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for
the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Catholic. Then they came
for me–and by that time there was nobody left to speak up."
—Martin Niemöller (1945) [he served seven years in a concentration camp] -
“Children grow up thinking the adult world is ordered, rational, fit for purpose. It’s crap. Becoming a man is realising that it’s all rotten. Realising how to celebrate that rottenness, that’s freedom.”
– John le Carré, The Night Manager (1993), line by Richard Roper -
"The point of the Fourth Amendment, which often is not grasped by zealous officers, is not that it denies law enforcement the support of the usual inferences which reasonable men draw from evidence. Its protection consists in requiring that those inferences be drawn by a neutral and detached magistrate instead of being judged by the officer engaged in the often competitive enterprise of ferreting out crime."
—Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S. 10, 13-14 (1948) -
The book was dedicated in the first (1982) and sixth (2025) editions to Justin William Hall (1975-2025). He was three when this project started in 1978.
Website design by Wally Waller, Colorado Springs. 
Category Archives: Qualified immunity
N.D.Tex.: Prison shakedown search that included strip searches was reasonable
Prison shakedown search that included strip searches was reasonable. “The foregoing sufficiently demonstrates the fittingness of these strip searches under the Fourth Amendment. These routine strip searches, which occur only twice per year, require the upheaval of all prisoners and … Continue reading
CA11: Shooting ptf’s dog gets no QI here
Alleged unnecessary shooting of plaintiff’s dog stated claim with no qualified immunity. Plowright v. Miami Dade Cty., 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 13613 (11th Cir. June 5, 2024):
CA7: Officers’ fear force would be used against them was reasonable
“When the deputies encountered him, he appeared intoxicated; they reasonably feared that he might become dangerous, and he became so when, as Culley later admitted in state court, he lunged at them and resisted arrest before they pushed him to … Continue reading
CA7: Officer punching arrestee four times after arrestee punched him gets QI
“After Charles Brumitt struck Evansville Police Department Sergeant Sam Smith, Smith defended himself by punching Brumitt four times in the face, knocking him unconscious. Brumitt sued Smith under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, asserting that Smith used excessive force in violation … Continue reading
CA10: Eight-hour seizure of home investigating OD before getting SW was unreasonable
“After Corban Elmore’s teenage son suffered a drug overdose at Elmore’s home, law-enforcement officers secured the scene and prohibited anyone from entering the house. The officers then continued to investigate and allowed almost eight hours to elapse before applying for … Continue reading
NE: LEO’s statutory jurisdictional authority is not an unreasonable search and seizure question
A law enforcement officer’s statutory power and authority to enforce laws outside of the officer’s primary jurisdiction does not implicate the Fourth Amendment or article I, § 7, of the Nebraska Constitution. State v. Hoehn, 316 Neb. 634 (May 17, … Continue reading
E.D.Ark.: Landlord and tenant refused rental property inspection and SW was validly issued and protected privacy interests
The renter of property has a Fourth Amendment right in the property under the city rental inspection code but not if a warrant is issued. Here, the owner and tenant refused inspection and entry, and the city obtained an administrative … Continue reading
UT: RS on a prior day was not RS for stop on day in question
Even assuming the officer had reasonable suspicion defendant was involved in a prior incident, he had no reasonable suspicion for stopping defendant this time. State v. Correa, 2024 UT App 69, 2024 Utah App. LEXIS 69 (May 9, 2024). Petitioner … Continue reading
CA5: Franks civil case pleads enough to overcome QI
Plaintiff showed sufficient facts to support a § 1983 Franks v. Delaware claim for false statements supporting probable cause for arrest. Franks is clearly established law. Hughes v. Garcia, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 10922 (5th Cir. May 3, 2024). “Based … Continue reading
CA6: No QI for shooting a man obviously surrendering
Officers responded to an armed potentially suicidal man they found in his house. When commanded to show his hands he started to get down to the floor when he was shot. “A jury could find these actions would indicate to … Continue reading
E.D.N.Y.: To get CSLI, there must be some showing the phone was involved in the crime
Just saying that criminals usually have their cell phones on them is not sufficient for probable cause. Something tying the phone to the crime, however, is enough. Here it was text messages.United States v. Rutledge, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 76534 … Continue reading
D.Me.: Alleged statutory violation doesn’t warrant exclusionary rule
In a search of medical records, records were seized in excess of the scope of a prior Patient Records Order for information other than patient drug abuse, but that did not warrant suppression here because the Fourth Amendment was not … Continue reading
N.D.Ind.: Motion to suppress was near denial of standing by disavowing relationship with premises
The affidavit showed a substantial basis for concluding that drug evidence would be found in the search of the apartment. [The motion to suppress sought to distance defendant from the place. Came close to being a denial of standing, but … Continue reading
CA11: QI in suicide by cop case
Suicide by cop: Decedent attempted suicide cutting her wrists in the bathtub. Her husband found her and called 911. Police showed and decedent had gotten out of the tub and advanced on the officers, knife in hand, getting shot and … Continue reading
CA10: Concealing one’s identity to the police without there being an underlying offense doesn’t create PC
Concealing one’s identity to the police without there being an underlying offense doesn’t create probable cause. No qualified immunity: “Our cases are clear: law enforcement needs reasonable suspicion of a ‘predicate, underlying crime,’ not a generalized suspicion a person is … Continue reading
CA6 disagrees with CA7 on de minimis injuries under § 1983 force cases
“We end with two disclaimers. As for the first disclaimer, courts have suggested that § 1983 does not provide a cause of action for ‘trifling’ injuries—whether a plaintiff alleges a violation of the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, or any … Continue reading
CA8: Alleged degrading strip search of transgender inmate stated claim
An allegedly retaliatory prison strip search alleged to be degrading and too intrusive stated a claim and survived qualified immunity on the Fourth Amendment but not the First Amendment retaliation claim. The inmate was transgender transitioning to female. Beard v. … Continue reading
CA6: It’s clearly established that RS or PC required for a traffic stop
It was clearly established at the time that reasonable suspicion or probable cause was required for a traffic stop. Fact issues remain, so no qualified immunity. King v. City of Rockford, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 7327 (6th Cir. Mar. 28, … Continue reading
OH4: Off-duty police officer can make a traffic stop
An off-duty police officer has the authority to make a traffic stop. Defendant cites no law that says they can’t. In addition, he had probable to make the stop. State v. Netter, 2024-Ohio-1068, 2024 Ohio App. LEXIS 997 (4th Dist. … Continue reading